Juvenile offenders give up crime to repair mobiles

SURAT: Sagar, 15, had earned notoriety as an ace bag lifter when he was just nine. He earned Rs 5,000 every month, and his family did not mind it though this was made from unlawful activity. However, now all that has changed for good. He is a mobile repairer in Limbayat, and earns Rs 250 per day.
Like him, things have perked up for 61 other children, who too were into criminal activities from early age.All of them were given vocational training in 2013 and now they are earning money through their hard work. These children were trained by police and Kanjibhai Desai Samaj Sikshan Bhavan Trust (KDSSB) under a project of the Union ministry of human resource development floated by Jan Sikshan Sansthan (JSS).
These children, who had carried out thefts, loots and also consumed drugs, had trained under notorious anti-social elements. They gradually broke away and formed their own gangs with the objective to rule the world of crime.
"The first stage of the project was to establish the identities of these children. Police helped us in this. Subsequently, we convinced their parents to send them to us for vocational training," said JSS director Kinnari Patel.
The children were given a three-month training to repair mobile phones. They are now employed in mobile repairing shops. "Sixty-one children were trained in 2013 in three batches to repair mobile phones. We will continue to give vocational training to more such juvenile offenders," Patel informed.
Police had paid Rs 200 fee for each student for the three-month course. The project was conducted in Limbayat since most of the juvenile offenders were from this area of the city.
"A few months ago, these children were involved in criminal activities, but now they are making Rs 250 per day from their hard work and professional knowledge. Surat police had initially launched this project. However, it was later incorporated into Suraksha Setu project of the state government," said police commissioner Rakesh Asthana.